Mayor Roberto Alves has announced that he’s awarding $170,000 in opioid settlement funds to 12 local organizations. This marks the first round of funding given out by the City of Danbury from the opioid legal settlements. So far, the city has received around $308,000 from these settlements.

Back in 2024, Mayor Alves set up a committee with staff from the Mayor’s Office, the Health & Human Services Department, and the Finance Department. Their goal? To figure out which local agencies are best positioned to use the funds for programs that address substance abuse, treatment and recovery, support services, and harm reduction in the Danbury area.

Mayor Alves joined us on the Thursday (1/16/25) edition of the I-95 Morning Show to discuss the distribution of the opioid settlement funds, sharing his thoughts on how these grants will support local efforts in combating substance abuse and providing recovery resources to the community.

Lou: Last night your office sent out a press release stating the City of Danbury has distributed some of the opioid lawsuit funds to different Hat City beneficiaries, can you talk a little bit about that? 

Alves: "Absolutely, I’d love to. When we came into office, we started reviewing some of the city's funds to see where we could make a difference, and we knew about the opioid settlement money. There had been a class-action lawsuit, which many people were following. States were awarded funds, which were then distributed to communities, and Danbury had been sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars before we took office—just sitting there, doing nothing with it. That was insane. How could that happen? Families in our community, and across the country, were impacted by the opioid crisis. It feels like everyone knows someone affected by this issue. To me, the settlement wasn’t enough to compensate for the suffering people have gone through. You can’t put a price on the lives lost, but the money was there, and it should have been put to good use. So, when we came in, we started evaluating which organizations were doing real preventative work or helping those struggling with addiction. It took some time for us to assess the situation, figure out how to distribute the funds fairly, and identify which organizations wanted to partner with us. In the end, we allocated nearly $180,000 to multiple organizations that are doing amazing work in this area."

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 The following agencies have been awarded opioid settlement funds:

  • Amos House: $10,000.00
  • APEX: $20,000.00
  • ARC: $10,000.00
  • CIFC: $10,000.00
  • CT Community for Addiction Recovery: $20,000.00
  • CT Counseling Centers: $20,000.00
  • Family & Children's Aid: $10,000.00
  • Danbury Grassroots Academy: $10,000.00
  • Housing Authority of the City of Danbury: $10,000.00
  • MCCA: $20,000.00
  • Salvation Army: $10,000.00
  • Western CT Coalition: $20,000.00

Under the Bridge – Danbury’s Hidden Art Project

Danbury, CT has a lot of murals which have been sanctioned by the city and then there is the illegal graffiti. The Hat City has its fair share of illegal graffiti but most of it, is off the beaten-path. It’s near the train tracks, and under bridges, it’s in places most residents will never go. I intentionally seek these places out. I like to go to places most people would find scary, grimy or even dangerous. I’m willing to climb over downed trees, step on broken glass and dodge rusting metal to find my way to a place I was never meant to see.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

6 of Danbury FCI's Most Famous Prisoners

We recently interviewed officials from Danbury FCI regarding the arrival of their latest notable inmate, Steve Bannon. During our discussion, we explored the theme of celebrity at the federal institution in Hat City and discovered that Bannon is among a series of high-profile individuals who have served time at this facility. Here are six of the most famous prisoners to have ever done time at Danbury FCI.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

In 1970, Two Men Robbed a Danbury Bank + Blew Up the Police Station

The story of the Pardue brothers, their connection to Danbury and what happened in the Hat City in February of 1970 came to us from Mike Allen. Every Tuesday Mike joins the Ethan and Lou Show on I-95 for a feature called "The Place You Live" and this week it was a local story unlike any I'd ever heard.

John Pardue was a 27-year-old man in 1970 who lived in Danbury, his brother James was 23, and living in Lusby, MD. Before the story finds its way to the Hat City, and the brothers rob the Union Savings Bank on Main Street, they had already racked up quite the list of astonishing crimes.

Prior to Danbury, they robbed banks in Lewisboro, NY, Georgetown, CT and Union, MO. They also killed their father, their grandmother, two other men who helped them pull off the robbery in Georgetown, CT and had, at minimum, a role in the death of an innocent Bridgeport man that they stole a car from. John and James Pardue were hardened criminals before their Danbury bank robbery.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

Inner Sanctum - Behind the Curtain on Danbury's Mysterious Free Masons

John Arizzi is the sitting Worshipful Master for Danbury’s Union Lodge #40 of the Ancient Free and accepted Masons. Arizzi described his role to me in layman’s terms, saying that in any other organization, he’d be called the President. This position is voted on every year by the group, and Arrizi has held the position multiple times. Arrizi was my tour guide into a world many people never see, the inner sanctum of Danbury's Free Masons. 

The Danbury Free Masons meet in a building at 337 Main Street. The building was originally the Meeker mansion. The Meekers were the prominent Danbury family who ran Meeker's Hardware. It's worth noting, that a separate Masonic Lodge is headquartered in the same building, Lodge 39. Lodge 39 is originally from Georgetown, CT but when their member numbers dwindled, they sold their building and moved to Danbury. 

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

8 Main Street Danbury Facts So Unbelievable, They Have to be True

Danbury: "The Hat City"

At one time. Danbury was known as the hat making center of the universe. The hat making industry is what this town was built on but frankly, I'm tired of talking about hats. We are so much more than that. Danbury has a lot of intriguing true stories and many of them originated in the same place, Main Street. Main Street Danbury holds truths so unbelievable, you kind of have to. How can one 2-mile stretch of road, hold so many stories? I just does. 

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

8 Fun Facts About Danbury Airport

I think there are a handful of places in Danbury that residents are really curious about but never bother to look into, one of those places is the Danbury Airport. We pass it on the way to the mall, or leaving after a day of shopping. We look down on it from Route 7 and wonder about it, but most of us simply don’t know.

Thankfully, we have Mike Allen who made the airport the subject of the most recent episode of “The Place You Live”. On Tuesday (2/1/22), Allen shared his research with us and these are 8 fun facts we learned about Danbury Airport. 

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

Exploring Beyond the Rusty Gates of Danbury's Oldest Cemetery on Wooster Street

I live just down the block from the Wooster Street Cemetery and whenever I pass, I am always struck at how odd it is. You have this quiet, beautiful place that is dedicated to the people who were buried there, in the middle of a busy city and almost no one ever goes there. I decided to go take a deeper look around and see what was beyond the iron gates and stone walls. 

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

44 Images From Inside the Haunting + Historic Old Jail in Danbury

Rich history and survival is the story of Danbury's Old Jail. It's historical significance in the Hat City is unquestionable, and many residents know some of the facts. What people may not know, is that it took great effort on the part of many Danbury residents to keep it protected. It's not a miracle that it stands today, it's a result of hard work and respect for the City's narrative. Here I share with you some of the facts that make the Old Jail special, the work it took to keep it intact and why I found the space haunting. 

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

Inside the Holding Cells and Grand Rooms of Danbury's Fairfield County Courthouse

One of Danbury's most significant buildings is the vacant courthouse on Main Street. I took a tour of it recently and captured images to share with you. This is a look at the judge's chambers, inside the holding cells and around the grand courtroom of the Fairfield County Courthouse. 

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano